Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Senior Project: Independent Research II (Face-to-Face)

PSY 4940-01

Course: PSY 4940-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: PSY
CRN: 33276

Course Description

Ideally suited to students wishing to pursue a graduate degree in psychology. This course allows students to conduct research for which they have received IRB approval. Students will complete their research project with individualized mentorship from a faculty member and submit an APA-style professional paper. Though not required, it is anticipated that many students will submit their research for presentation and/or publication.

This course may be repeated for up to 12 credits with a maximum of 3 credits applied toward a psychology degree. This course serves as one option for satisfying the senior capstone requirement of the psychology major, and if used as such, this is intended as a culminating experience in undergraduate study of psychology. While it may be taken earlier, students using this course to fulfill the capstone requirement must have successfully completed 24 credit hours of psychology courses beyond PSY 1010 to enroll. This course is generally taken during the Spring semester, after having completed PSY 4930 - Senior Project: Independent Research I and PSY 4935 - Senior Project: Independent Research I Lab the preceding Fall semester, though exceptions are considered. Due to the individualized mentorship model of this course, instructor permission is always required to enroll. (Fall [As Needed], Spring [As Needed]) [Graded (Standard Letter)]

Required Texts

There is no required text for this course.

Learning Outcomes

The objective of this course is to provide a culminating experience of your learning in research methodology in Psychology. You will engage in data collection, analysis, and dissemination of your capstone research project. The course experience provides opportunities for critical thinking, analysis, writing, and professional communication.

ESSENTIAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

  1. Critical Thinking

    • Learn to engage in critical analysis of research processes and data results.
    • Evaluate the research process and identify potential modifications for future research.

  2. Communication

    • Learn to communicate research processes and data analysis in a professional context.
    • Develop professional writing skills and generate a research report according to APA standards

Course Requirements

Grading

A = 100-94%      B+ = <90-87%      C+ = <80-77%      D+ = <70-67%      F < 61%
A- = <94-90%      B = <87-84%      C = <77-74%      D = <67-64%
B- = <84-80%      C- = <74-70%      D- = <64-61%
  • Data Collection 150 pts
  • Data Analysis 100 pts
  • Research Report 200 pts
  • Professional Presentation 180 pts
  • Communication and Participation 70 pts
Please note that Canvas grades are ESTIMATES and can sometimes significantly over-estimate your grade. To ensure accuracy, you need to be in contact with me about your progress/grade in the course.

ASSIGNMENTS & EXAMS

Communication & Participation: You will be in charge of setting up regular appointments in Google calendar and inviting me to the Google calendar meeting. As indicated above, checking in with me should happen weekly, with face-to-face meetings primarily but using email check-ins when there is less information to cover (such as in the middle of data collection but prior to any analysis, etc.). Additionally, as research is a complex process, you may need to interact with other students or faculty to collaborate on aspects of the project. Make sure you are reaching out to others with sufficient time for them to respond and collaborate within their complex schedules. Grading is based on consistency of meetings, promptness of communication in the event of change, and clarity in written and verbal communication.
Data Collection: You will be collecting data as per your original research design and approval from IRB. Depending on your design, this will include setting up online materials in Qualtrics and possibly SONA, scheduling space for the study, and establishing the ability for participants to schedule appointments, and maintaining data security. Points are awarded for setting up the data collection process efficiently and communicating clearly when adaptations are needed and documenting progress regularly. For this assignment, you will write the Methods section of your final report including participants, instruments, and procedures.
Data Analysis: You will need to demonstrate proficiency of data analysis and presentation. To prepare for the final analysis, you will conduct a procedural ‘practice run’ of data analysis. Pull data from Qualtrics and/or enter data collected by hand in your studies. Enter that data into SPSS and run through the analysis procedure, ensuring you are familiar with which options are needed to select, etc. I recommend saving the Syntax from the analysis and start formulating tables and graphs that you can use for final data presentation. Of course, after you’ve collected all of your data, you will formally conduct the analysis and write up of your results section that includes a visual representation of the results (table, graph, scatterplot, histogram, etc.).
Research Report: After conducting your analysis, you will need to complete the discussion portion of the research report. This section should include a summary of the meaning of the results and address the initial hypotheses, as well as limitations of the current study and areas for future research. After completing this final section, you will combine previous sections into one formal research report following APA guidelines. The final report will include an Abstract, Literature review (including rationale for the study), Methods, Results, and Discussions section.
Professional Presentation: You will disseminate your findings in a professional context. This context could be the Psychology Department Research Symposium, the SUU Festival of Excellence, and/or the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association annual conference, and of course other venues may also be considered. I recommend and encourage multiple presentations when possible. At least one such event should include an oral presentation including visual aids. Poster sessions may be conducted in addition to the oral presentation, so you may want to consider an oral presentation at the Festival of Excellence and a poster at RMPA or vice versa. If you are unable for some reason to conduct an oral presentation at one of the above-mentioned events and present a poster instead, we can discuss setting up an alternate venue for an oral presentation.

Course Outline

WeekTopic
1Introduction
2Set up SONA or data collection appts
4Data Collection Should be underway
5Turn in Literature Review
7Practice data run
8Draft methods section
9Refining methods
10Building presentation materials/graphs
12Final data analysis and discussion
13Practice presentation
14Refine presentation and written materials
15Final draft- Present at Department Symposium

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Assignments: We will discuss deadlines at the beginning of the semester based on professional presentation dates. Some deadlines cannot be moved, so it is imperative that you plan well and communicate clearly and often to ensure you do not miss essential deadlines. The final research report MUST be turned in by the last day of classes, no exceptions.

Attendance Policy

Congratulations, you’ve reached your Capstone experience! This is YOUR research project, so I expect you to lead the project with me acting as a support. You are expected to take the initiative and ask questions, check in regularly, and manage some of the administrative tasks. One such administrative task is to establish weekly meetings and check ins with me, so after we have discussed a time, create a standing appointment in Google calendar and invite me. We can meet in person, over Zoom, or on the phone. Occasionally, you or I may need to reschedule or cancel the normal meetings and in those events we may use an email update. It is imperative that you adopt professional habits, so I expect you to be on time for scheduled meetings or communicate clearly ahead of time if any issues arise. As the purpose of this course is professional development and critical thinking, all work generated must be your own. Use of external individuals, services, or AI to generate content for this course is prohibited.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.